


Birthday

by Buckysaur



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcoholic Tony Stark, Angst, Birthday, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sad, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7013110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buckysaur/pseuds/Buckysaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble about what Tony is up to today. Spoiler alert: nothing good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> My friend texted me 'It's Tony's bday, It needs a fic' and this is what I texted back. Sometimes these things just happen.

Tony spends most of the day drunk out of his mind. He's not proud of it, but he's not going to _not_ do it. He's got enough reason to, or so he tells himself. Pepper is gone, Rhodey is still having trouble doing so much as walking across the room, Cap and his team of 'Secret' Avengers are holed up in Wakanda and Tony hasn't had the guts to call them up yet. Hasn't been able to set aside his anger enough to do so either.

The real problem is that he can't _fix_ any of these things. He can't exactly take a screwdriver to Rhodey's spine, not really, even though he's damn well _trying_ to. He also can't solder his and Pepper's relationship back in one piece. That he hasn't even tried. She deserves better than him.

So he spends the day alone, ignoring everything and everyone as hard as he can. (FRIDAY is doing most of the work for him, he's commanded her not to let anyone into his workshop, and to save any messages anyone leaves for later.) He doesn't really get any work done. Bangs some metal against metal, drafts a new suit, but doesn't really do anything concrete. Mostly, he just wants the day to be over. (A few months ago, he'd had a great idea of how to celebrate his birthday with all the Avengers – his new _family_ – there. It would have been great. Had he had any of those plans in hardcopy, he'd have burned them after Siberia.)

When the phone rings, he startles so hard he rolls off the couch he'd half-fallen asleep on. Everything is set to mute, so what the hell is making that god awful noise? It takes his alcohol impaired brain a minute to realise it's _Steve's_ phone, and by that time the ringing has already stopped.

He gets up on his feet and wobbles to the desk where he'd tossed the phone in a drawer. He has to dig through papers for a moment to find it. Once he has, he flips it open.

One missed call from 'Steve'. Just Steve. Not Captain America.

He considers calling back for a moment, wonders if there's an emergency of some sort, then decides that if there is, he wouldn't be much help anyway. He's approximately ten hours sleep and two good meals away from being useful. He startles again when the phone buzzes against his skin, and drops it out of shock. It bounces onto the floor where it keeps ringing.

Tony stares at it. Steve's name blinks back up at him. Wearily, he picks up the phone, pushes the archaic green button, and presses it to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Hey, Tony, it's Steve," Steve's voice says into his ear.

"Yeah," Tony responds unintelligently as he slumps into his rolling desk chair. He'd guessed as much.

"I..." Steve sounds momentarily hesitant, then goes on: "I know today is your birthday, so I figured I should say hi."

"Hi." He's normally not this monosyllabic, but hearing Steve's voice after _everything_ , while also being severely inebriated, kind of has that effect on him.

It's quiet on the other end of the line for a while. Tony just waits. He kind of feels like he's floating, or dreaming. He still kind of wants to punch Steve, too. "Maybe I shouldn't have called," Steve says in the end.

"No, maybe not," Tony agrees. He leans back in his chair and stares up at the ceiling. Before he can stop himself, he adds: "But... thanks." He doesn't know why he says it, he's not _thankful_ , he's mad. Still. But he also feels really fucking alone, and nothing has been right since Steve left. Nothing was right even before he did, really.

"Take care," Steve says, and then hangs up.

Tony tosses the phone back onto his desk and rubs his hands over his face. He feels old and tired and in severe need of a shower. Maybe in even more need of a friend. With a heavy sigh, he stands up and stumbles to the elevator. He can take a bath and sleep it all off, and then maybe tomorrow he can work on Rhodey's legs again.

That's at least one thing he can try to fix.


End file.
